


Fragile Tension

by Naerryn



Category: Bright (2017)
Genre: Gen, Reader is a half-elf, Specific reader gender probably in later chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-21 08:11:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21296303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naerryn/pseuds/Naerryn
Summary: I grew up with looks of disdain directed at me. A thorn in the eye of of every pure blood elf that crossed my way. As a half-elf, I could count the amount of people that loved and cared for me on one hand. Elvish society made me feel worthless, an cruel joke of evolution that shouldn't be there. The more they excluded me, the more my hatred grew for those petty-minded elf that threw stones in my way. But it all came to a turning point when my path crossed the one of a fellow pure-blood elf that thinks that elves should stay above all.
Relationships: Reader/Kandomere
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

“How many coffee is that now?”, my partner Lea asked bemused when she sat down at the edge of my office desk as she’s eyeing the steaming black coffee next to my laptop.

“Six? I am surprised you’re really drinking this dishwater.”, she asked in the blue, tugging some of hair messy curly hair behind her round ears and I noticed dark circles around her chocolate brown eyes, even through her almond brown skin tone concealed a lot of her tiredness.

“Better than nothing.”, I shrugged her comment off and added some milk and sugar into the porcelain mug. Nightshift at the Magic Task Force facility was always an unpleasant experience, to say the least. Either nothing was going on and you had to fight sleep for ten hours straight, or the crazy shit was blowing up right into our face. There was nothing in between.

At least, there weren’t many other agents in the building at this hour. Especially almost to no elves.

“Oh, guess what.”, Lea started talking again, obviously I was part of her plan to fight off her desire to sleep while I was stirring my coffee with a silver spoon. I hummed in respond, waiting for her to continue talking.

“I heard Agent Arlon bitching about the public speech your mother held in the elf district of Seattle today. Shame for all elves and the usual bullshit.”

“And here I thought you head something new.”, I replied with a dramatic roll of my eyes, taking a sip from my almost to sweet tasting coffee. It was an open secret that the bigger part of the elvish society considered my mother to be their personal Dark Lord. Or antichrist, how humans liked to say in such a matter.

She worked since decades for a real equality between all races, not just one that stood on paper. Growing up privileged, my mother sympathized at a very young age with creatures that weren’t lucky enough to live behind guarded walls and enjoy the best unaffordable education for over 60 % of the planet.

Her speeches back then were waved off as youthful flaws, but when she felt in love with a human and decided to give birth to the first halfbreed of the elvish kind, that crossed the line for most elves.

It was socially tolerated to have a secret affair with humans, but that’s were the comfort zone ended. Being in an official relationship would be a scandal to an alarming extent and the pressure to much to bear, but breeding with a different race, that was a social death sentence.

I lived my childhood in the elf district of New York City, moved with my parents to three more elvish districts around the country before we finally settled in Los Angeles. Still a lot of hate, but at least there was enough other gossip that we could live our lives in peace for most parts. There were only heydays of hatred whenever mother did one of her more passionate speeches about equality or wanted to enforce a new law that didn’t benefit the needs of the elves.

“One should think that they are more discrete with you being around.”, Lea said thoughtfully, taking one of the elder files that rested on my desk and flipped through the pages.

“Nah, they love it when I walk in to listen to their shit. Hoping I will cry my eyes out about it.”

Back when Lea and I got paired up roughly three years ago, she thought I am just one of those arrogant elves that fill the halls of the department, thinking that everyone should bow to them. But that impression dissolved into dust when she witnessed me getting bullied by elvish coworkers on a daily basis.

I may looked like them, minus the pointed teeth and the bright, light colored eyes, those were human, I got treated like an abomination since the day of my conception. Even by my elvish grandparents.

A loud ping echoed through the open space office and the door of the elevator opened with a swift motion, revealing the Agents Kandomere and Montehugh to be back from a field trip.

I growled at the sight of the buff elf, with his dyed blue hair slicked back nicely and his silver-blue eyes scanning the room as he entered the room with his partner.

“Behave.”, Lea hissed quietly, but we both knew that Kandomere heard every word we would exchange from now on, even if he would be five rooms apart from us.

He was the personification of my archenemy. The second I laid eyes on his silver gorget, etched with the sentence “Elves above all. Above all elves.” in Övüsi, the elvish language, I decided to hate him with a burning passion.

And after a heated debate in a team meeting around a year ago, where it wouldn’t have taken much for us to strangle one another to death, our human partners decided to keep us separated by all costs. And it worked until now.

I didn’t came around to notice how he clenched his strong jaw as his piercing eyes landed on me, heard his heartbeat quickening and he let out a deep breath.

“Can’t he breath even louder.”

“[Y/N]!”, my partner hissed again, this time a bit more aggressive, her eyes dancing between me and the two arrivals and I could swear I noticed a pleading look on Montehughs face directed at Lea.

“Why don’t we go to the archives? Decoding some ancient languages? What do you say, [Y/N]?”

“No.”

“Well, I could go for something small to eat, Kandomere.”, I heard Montehughs booming voice, looking around the room casually before glancing at his partner, who was striding through the room in my direction.

“Then go.”, he said callous, passing Lea and my desk with stone cold features before I could hear the chair of the desk right behind mine being pulled back. So that’s his first move, I thought to myself and decided to slurp on my coffee rather unladylike.

I felt his death glare literally on the back of my head, but at this very moment, I couldn’t care less. Instead, I had to hold back myself from laughing about Lea and Montehugh, who were unable to cope with their (half-) elvish partners.

Montehugh, who still stood close to the elevator, walked the invisible path Kandomere previously moved on, but he came to halt right next to Lea and myself.

“Long time no see… So, how is it going?”

“Well, it’s always the same, Ulysses.”

“Ulysses?”, I blurred out with a raised eyebrow, watching the two humans with an answer demanding look in the eyes and judging the of Kandomeres sharp breath we were sitting in the same boat.

“That’s his name.”

“I know, but since when are we addressing each other by first name?”

He’s with the enemy, I thought to myself, as I tried my best not to let that thought become visible on my facial features.

“I have friends beside you, [Y/N].”

“Friends?”, this time, it was Kandomeres sonorous voice filling the air as he rose his voice and I slid back while remaining on the chair to be able to look at him and the two human.

“Since we can’t bring the two of you to team meetings without starting the apocalypse, we started talking during the breaks and stuff.”, Montehugh said in defense, crossing his arms in front of his chest while Lea slipped down from the desk to stand next to him.

“Oh really?”, Kandomere and I said at the same time, quickly glancing at one another before turning our attention back to our partners.

“You both are behaving ridiculous. I mean, look at you.”

“She’s right. You know what, Lea and I are getting some supper and you guys can burn down this place if necessary, but don’t get us involved anymore.”, and with that being said, Montehugh and Lea turned their backs on us and headed straight for the elevator and just a blink of the eye later, they were gone behind metallic doors.

“That’s your fault.”, Kandomere said in a low growl, interlocking his hands in front of his face while staring at me with arched eyebrows.

“My fault?”, I asked him outraged, placing a hand on my chest as I swirled around to face him. He remained silently, his silver-blue eyes staring me down without blinking.

“This is hardly my fault. You”

“I have done nothing.”

“Of course. How could I forget that our godlike Kandomere isn’t able to do anything wrong. Elves above all. Above all elves. Right!”, I yelled at him and both of us rose to our feet, only a desk kept us apart from one another.

At first, there was pure rage shown on his face, but with every heavy breath that he exhaled, his strong features began to soften.

“So this what it was all about the entire time?”, Kandomere asked me calmly, tilting his head while he scanned my features for any sign if he found the final clue to solve a case that caused him a lot of headaches.

Unwittingly, I backed away a small step, meeting the desk I said behind for the last two hours with my backside while my full attention rested on the elf in front of me.

“What are you talking about?”, I muttered under my breath and felt awed by the sudden change of his demeanor as I watched Kandomere pointing at his silver gorget, his piercing light eyes locked with mine.

“You hate me because of a piece of jewelry?”

“I hate you for everything this piece of jewelry stands for.”, I told him honestly and I could tell by the look on his face what he was thinking at this very moment. That I was sounding just like my mother.

“I have nothing against other races.”

“But?”

“But I think most need supervision.”

“By elves?”, I wasn’t beating around the bush, but neither was Kandomere, and I crossed my arms in front of my chest while he walked around the desk, now standing an arm-length apart from me as he leaned against the desk.

“Yes.”

I snorted in respond, shaking my head in disbelief about his dusty, old fashioned views. Sadly, this view was shared by most of those elitist pure-blooded elves. An awkward silence took a firm grip of us, mentally going through the usual better and worse reasons to believe in each of our views.

Those debates were held millions of times, there was no good reason for the two of us to start it on our own. Nothing new would come out of it. Everything that someone could say on that topic was already said by older, more wiser elves then us.

“But that doesn’t mean that I hold any resentment towards you.”, Kandomere said after a long pause, slowly coming closer to me in small, graceful steps. I bit my lower lip, avoiding his gaze for a split second before looking back up to meet his eyes.

“I find it hard to belief.”

“Really?”

“Really.”, we exchanged our words quickly, and he came to stop right in front of me, the tip of his expensive designer shoes touching mine softly. He smelled like smoke of an open fire mixed with the scent of leather and roses. It left me wondering for a moment if there was someone waiting for him at home, but that thought left my racing mind as quickly as it entered.

“Then, would you allow me to prove you that my words are honest? All I want is a chance and time.”, he spoke calmly, looking down at me through half closed eyes.

“I have to think about it.”, I whispered, flinching away from him before I grabbed my jacket, which rested on the back of my chair before I stride towards the closed elevator.

I felt his eyes burning in the back of my head with every step I came closer to my escape, his smell still etched into my mind and the sonorous sound of his voice echoing in my head.

I needed a clear head, and here, with him, I wouldn’t be able to get what the back of my head demanded. That’s at least what I told myself as I waited for the elevator to show up, feeling like it’s taking longer then usual for it to show up on our floor.

With a loud ping, the door glided to one side and I quickly entered the small room to press the button for the ground floor. Turning around on the spot, my eyes landed on Kandomere one last time before the doors closed automatically.

The silver-blue orbs of his were pleading me to stay, to come back to him and sit down on the some chairs, talking about this and that and making first steps on getting to know one another. I lowered my head, avoiding his gaze as the door closed the engine of the elevator starting to lower the cabin to it’s destination.


	2. Chapter 2

With a tilted head, I pushed the door open before I entered the Troll Cave, a diner at the gates of the Elf District and a common meeting place for Lea and myself. The sun hung low on the darkening sky, and my partner sat on her usual table with a coffee and a plate of pancakes in front of her.

When her eyes landed on mine, Lea quickly put down her phone into one of the pockets of her jacket before she greeted me with a soft smile. “I started to get worried when I haven’t heard of you. Montehugh and I placed bets on who would survive. My blind faith”, she winked at me as she began talking, pushing the untouched coffee and pancakes in my direction as I sat on the other side of the table, but she felt silent once she noted the frown on my face.

“What’s wrong?”

I shook my head ‘no’ while I stared down on the steaming drink on the table, feeling the phone in the right pocket of my trousers vibration. Whoever it would be, they could wait.

“It… the conversation didn’t went off how you imagined it.”, I spoke in a low tone of voice, my partner shifting on her seat to lean in closer to me. Silently, Lea listened to every of my words when I told her point by point of the last nights event. Kandomeres words, the sound of his voice and look on his face along with his body language.

Moving the full mug and the plate to the side, the human waitress with the name tag “Kelly” took both in her hands and started heading towards the counter. It wasn’t the first time we ordered food and had to leave the diner before finishing our meal, so the waitresses automatically packed it up as takeaway.

“I don’t know what to think, Lea.”, I muttered under my breath, my arms resting on the cold surface of the wooden table and I looked at Lea for any kind of advice. She opened her mouth, but closed it again as she got her phone out of her pockets again.

“Dang it… Yeah, hello?”, Lea answered the incoming phone call, and from the expression on her face I could tell that we won’t get much rest during the upcoming shift.

“Mhm… Yeah… She’s sitting right in front of me… Okay, I understand… Okay… Bye.”, I listened to my partners mumbling while I paid the waitress for the coffee and pancakes, the takeaway food plus a paper cup being placed in the middle of the table.

“And?”, I asked her with knitted eyebrows, the phone put down again and we both raised to our feet. “They got a clue. We’ll be picked up by”, Lea started to explain when we headed out of the diner, her voice low to not draw any unwanted attention before her voice died in her throat.

Her brown eyes searched for mine with a worried sparkle hidden inside them. “Will you be alright?”, she placed a hand on one of my shoulders as we came to a halt at the parking space right next to the diner. To my relief, the familiar 2017 Infiniti Q60 was nowhere to be seen.

“We’ve worked together before.”, I tried to wave it off, leaning with my back against the nearest wall while I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “Yeah, but… it has been different before. For you, he was just another of those pure-blooded assholes that threw stones in your way all of your life.”, Lea spoke gently to me, but felt silent when I snorted dismissively before I told her that he still is a pure-blooded asshole.

“I could strangle you to death sometimes. Seriously, Kandomere made the first step. Both of you did, and I am proud of you. I cannot imagine how hard it must be for you to accept that more elves care about you beside your mother. And your grandparents to a degree. He does, ever since you started working for the Task Force. I know for a fact that Agent Higgins and Agent Ohara were moved to other departments when he heard them talking about you. And a handful of others were threatened with the same fade if they can’t shut their mouths.”

Dumbfounded, I stared at Lea after my mouth left open ajar. “What?”, I blinked a couple times and from the corner of my eyes, I saw a luxurious car driving onto the parking lot right next to us. It’s the 2017 Infiniti Q60, Kandomeres car.

“Montehugh told me over lunch. He may wear that stupid gorget and maybe he shares those old fashioned views, but he cares for you nonetheless. No matter how bad the two of you fought. No one ever got under his skin, except you.”, my partner stepped closer to me, whispering against one of my ears as I heard the windows of the car being lowered.

The sound of our names rung through the air, and I glanced past Lea to see one of Montehughs arms waving at us. My eyes traveled from the tips of his fingers to the grumpy look on the humans face before I locked eyes with his partner.

Kandomere looked at me with caution, his perfectly sculptured eyebrows knitted lightly as the two of them waited for us to be done with our conversation. “All he want’s a chance. You should know best how that feels.”, Lea added in a haste, before she turned her back on me and headed towards the passengers side.

Lowing my head, I felt a huge wave of shame washing over me as I followed her, feeling exposed and foolish at the same time. Hypocritical. Even without using the word, Lea called me out on it. And she was sadly right.

“Did you beat some sense into them?”, I heard Montehugh hissing towards my partner, who lightly shrugged before she looked over her shoulder to check on me.

“Nice to see you too, Monty.”, I glared at him with a half smile, but I bet Lea would act the same way if the shoe would be on the other foot. Without another word, Montehugh opened the door to his side of the car and climbed out of it, locking eyes with me as he straightened his back. I imagined my mother would look like that if I would ever bring a suitor back home. It’s almost scary.

“Rumors say there’s a magical wand in the Elf District.”, he spoke while gesturing towards the now empty passengers seat, his blue eyes darker then usual. None of us wasted no further words, as I walked past him and climbed into the car. Kandomere and I would drive ahead, with the two of them following us as fast as possible. Even with a badge of the Magic Task Force, the guards at the Elf District could be a pain in the ass and we couldn’t afford to lose any more time then we already wasted right now.

“You can use my car.”, I offered and fished the keys out of my pockets, Montehugh closed the door before handing them over to Lea through the open window, who took them with an encouraging smile on her lips and a nod towards the man next to me. Before any thing else could be said, I heard the engine of the Q60 getting started and the car backed out of the parking space.

It’s now or never, I thought to myself.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find more of my writing on http://www.naerryn.tumblr.com


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